[h=1]Griffith University PhD candidate Phil Bellinger sets out to prove sport and protein supplement's performance boost is all in athletes minds[/h]
Griffith applied sports science PhD candidate Phil Bellinger has proved some supplements have no impact on performance. Pic by RixRyan Photography Source: Supplied
THE lucrative sport supplement sales could be threatened by Queensland research that's found the substances have no effect on performance.
Griffith University applied sports science PhD candidate Phil Bellinger set out to disprove claims that supplements enhanced an athlete’s performance, using cyclists to test whether the benefits were purely psychological.
His “deception trials” involved the cyclists taking a beta-alanine amino acid supplement or a placebo and doing a 1km time trial afterwards to see what affect each had.
“We actually deceived them in terms of giving them beta-alanine or the placebo,” Mr Bellinger said.
“Essentially, what we found was the believed effect of taking the supplement was as strong as ingesting the supplement as well. They believed it was strong enough to give them a performance benefit.”
Mr Bellinger said the cyclists said they had more energy and could go harder in their time trial even when they had just been given a pill with no active ingredients.
His research will now be presented at the 19th Annual European College of Sport Science Congress, one of the most renowned sports science and medical conference in the world, to be held in Amsterdam in July.
[h=3]Fifi Box slams athletes who use drugs 3:08[/h]
Fifi Box says athletes who make excuses for drug use need to 'grow up'. Courtesy: Fifi and Dave, Fox FM
Autoplay
With performance-enhancing drugs brought to the spotlight in Australian sport, Mr Bellinger said the research was topical.
“It’s had a bit more focus with the drugs in Australian sport taking off over the last 18 months as well,” Mr Bellinger said.
“It’s such a huge area at the moment so we wanted to shed a bit more light on it.”
The Australian supplement industry last year generated $10 million.
Mr Bellinger said the products promised a lot but athletes should be looking for other ways to enhance their performance.
“It’s a huge amount (of money) for such a small part of performance,” Mr Bellinger said.
[h=3]Warning: Don't Spend Too Much on Your Kid's Sport 3:37[/h]
New research shows parents who spend more on their child's athletics run the risk of reducing the childs enjoyment of the sport. Kevin Helliker discusses supporting your childs athletic passion, without inadvertently undermining love of the sport. Photo: Jonathan Hanson for The Wall Street Journal.
“A lot of highly trained athletes will look at: ‘what’s the next supplement on the market I can get?’ They don’t look at training or nutrition, they just go for that x-factor.
“It’s typically what a lot of athletes are interested in.”
Griffith applied sports science PhD candidate Phil Bellinger has proved some supplements have no impact on performance. Pic by RixRyan Photography Source: Supplied
THE lucrative sport supplement sales could be threatened by Queensland research that's found the substances have no effect on performance.
Griffith University applied sports science PhD candidate Phil Bellinger set out to disprove claims that supplements enhanced an athlete’s performance, using cyclists to test whether the benefits were purely psychological.
His “deception trials” involved the cyclists taking a beta-alanine amino acid supplement or a placebo and doing a 1km time trial afterwards to see what affect each had.
“We actually deceived them in terms of giving them beta-alanine or the placebo,” Mr Bellinger said.
“Essentially, what we found was the believed effect of taking the supplement was as strong as ingesting the supplement as well. They believed it was strong enough to give them a performance benefit.”
Mr Bellinger said the cyclists said they had more energy and could go harder in their time trial even when they had just been given a pill with no active ingredients.
His research will now be presented at the 19th Annual European College of Sport Science Congress, one of the most renowned sports science and medical conference in the world, to be held in Amsterdam in July.
[h=3]Fifi Box slams athletes who use drugs 3:08[/h]
Fifi Box says athletes who make excuses for drug use need to 'grow up'. Courtesy: Fifi and Dave, Fox FM
Autoplay
With performance-enhancing drugs brought to the spotlight in Australian sport, Mr Bellinger said the research was topical.
“It’s had a bit more focus with the drugs in Australian sport taking off over the last 18 months as well,” Mr Bellinger said.
“It’s such a huge area at the moment so we wanted to shed a bit more light on it.”
The Australian supplement industry last year generated $10 million.
Mr Bellinger said the products promised a lot but athletes should be looking for other ways to enhance their performance.
“It’s a huge amount (of money) for such a small part of performance,” Mr Bellinger said.
[h=3]Warning: Don't Spend Too Much on Your Kid's Sport 3:37[/h]
New research shows parents who spend more on their child's athletics run the risk of reducing the childs enjoyment of the sport. Kevin Helliker discusses supporting your childs athletic passion, without inadvertently undermining love of the sport. Photo: Jonathan Hanson for The Wall Street Journal.
“A lot of highly trained athletes will look at: ‘what’s the next supplement on the market I can get?’ They don’t look at training or nutrition, they just go for that x-factor.
“It’s typically what a lot of athletes are interested in.”
